The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries Book 9) (10 page)

“Is there any word?” Joseph asked when Geanie pulled away.

“No. They haven’t told me a blasted thing,” Mark said. “I’m going crazy here.”

“I’ll see if I can’t pry some information out of someone,” Joseph said. He crossed to a chair and pulled out his phone.

Mark stared at him uncomprehendingly. Who did Joseph possibly intend to call to get information?

“Hi, Dan. It’s Joseph. I’m calling because I need information on a pregnant patient in the hospital. She’s gone into labor two months prematurely and no one is letting us know what’s going on with her. Her husband is worried and so am I. Yes. Traci Walters. Okay. Call me back on this number.”

Joseph hung up. “We should know something in a minute or two.”

“Who was that?” Mark asked.

“The director of the hospital.”

Mark blinked. “You know the director?”

“Yes, Dan is our newest Shepherd at the church,” Geanie said.

Mark hadn’t heard that term in a long time, not since the case where he’d first met everyone. “And that means you can just call him up in the middle of the night for a patient status and he’ll give it to you?”

“No, that means he’ll take my call in the middle of the night. He’ll get us information about Traci because I’m the hospital’s largest charitable donor.”

Mark nodded. Joseph was rich and he was also connected. If those connections helped Traci or him then he was happy to use them.

A minute later Joseph’s phone rang and he quickly answered. “Hello? Yes. They are? Why? Right now? Okay, thanks.”

Joseph hung up and he looked pale. Mark felt his stomach clench into knots.

“There have been some complications and they’re going to do a C-section. They’re taking her into surgery right now.”

“I need to see her.”

“You can’t. She’s already sedated and they need to move fast.”

Mark sat down next to Joseph who put a hand on his shoulder.

“She’s going to be alright. Dan assured me that his finest people are taking care of her. He also instructed them to tell us the moment anything changes.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Mark whispered. Traci was his world. If he lost her, he lost everything.

“Did he say what the complications were?” Geanie asked as she sat down.

“No. Just that there were some.”

Joseph still had his hand on Mark’s left shoulder. Geanie put her hand on his right shoulder and bowed her head. “God, we come before you with troubled hearts. We beg you to guide the doctor’s hands and to deliver Traci and the baby safely through this. We pray that you protect them and make this ordeal swift. Afterwards we pray that Traci’s recovery is swift. Right now, God, we also pray for Mark. Please ease his pain and fear and give him your peace and the knowledge that everything is going to be okay. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

“Amen,” Joseph echoed.

“Amen,” Mark whispered.

“Ladies and gentlemen we will be landing in just a few minutes. Please put your seat backs in the full upright
position and put away your trays. Thank you.” As soon as the flight attendant had finished speaking the cabin lights flickered on. All around them people were groaning and stretching as they sat up. Shades were raised letting the morning sun stream in.

Next to him Cindy raised her shade. He looked out the window and he could see the earth below them. Israel. He had thought he’d never be stepping foot on her soil again. It was with a mixture of feelings that he saw it now.

Cindy turned to look at him and the fear was plain to read in her eyes. He reached out and grabbed her hand. He squeezed it tight. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt. He hesitated then leaned close to her so he could whisper. “Very few people know the name Jeremiah and I’d like to keep it that way,” he said.

“What should I call you then?” she asked.

He took a deep breath. He had never thought to speak this name again. “Malachi Abram.”

“Is that your real name?”

“The one I was born with, yes,” he said.

“Malachi, it sounds like part of the phrase that you said means Angel of Death.”

“It should. Malachi and malakh both mean Messenger.”

“Which is another word for angel,” she said slowly.

He nodded. Not wanting to talk about it any further, he reached down and pretended to adjust his backpack.

A few minutes later the plane touched down. He pulled his backpack out from beneath the seat in front of him. The moment the plane had taxied to the gate Jeremiah stood, climbed over Aaron’s body, helped Cindy do the same, and was heading for the front of the plane. Passengers they passed gave them hostile glares. As they neared the front
the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off and a couple of people stood up and moved into the aisle in front of them.

“
Slicha,
eyfoh hasherutim. Excuse me, bathroom emergency,” Jeremiah said as he pushed past them, dragging Cindy with him.

Only one person refused to get out of the way and Jeremiah knocked into him hard enough to send him back down into his seat. A moment later they were at the exit to the airplane waiting for the flight attendant to open it.

Finally she did and Jeremiah and Cindy headed up the gangplank quickly, him still holding her hand to ensure that she was right with him. They burst into the waiting room at the gate and Jeremiah swept the space with his eyes, looking for anyone familiar or anyone or anything that looked out of place. Finally his eyes landed on a man in his fifties with dark hair that was silver at his temples. He knew him. The man had been his handler for years.

Jeremiah took a deep breath and walked straight up to him, still clutching Cindy’s hand. The man smiled as he approached and stretched out his arms. A moment later he was embracing Jeremiah and kissing him on each cheek.

“Shalom, Malachi.”

“Shalom, Solomon.”

Solomon turned to eye Cindy.

“
Shmah Cindy,” Jeremiah told him.

Solomon nodded. Whether he already knew who she was or not he did not give away by his expression.

“Shalom, Cindy,” he said solemnly.

“Shalom,” she said, her voice tight.

“Yalla, we should go quickly,” Jeremiah said.

Solomon turned and led them in the direction of baggage claim. “We were worried about you. We had word
two hours ago that the man we sent to get you turned up dead in his hotel room. Aaron was a good man.”

“There’s a dead man on the plane who claimed to be Aaron then tried to kill me on the flight over.”

“I am glad he did not succeed.”

“Me, too,” Jeremiah said, still looking at everything and everyone around him. It had been a long time since he’d been this hyper-vigilant. His American counterparts had a saying.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
He had learned long ago that it was also the price of survival.

“We shall take care of this,” Solomon said. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and made a quick call that Jeremiah could tell was heavily encoded. Finished, he returned the phone to a pocket. “We will know as much as we can about this imposter soon enough.”

Solomon’s presence combined with what he’d said about the dead agent was proof that the Mossad had been calling him back. That was at least one question resolved. Now he just needed to know why.

Cindy took in everything around her. She had been to airports before, but this one was so completely foreign feeling that she worried she’d never find her way through it if separated from Jeremiah and Solomon.

Jeremiah must trust Solomon or they wouldn’t be letting him lead the way. After what had happened on the plane she wasn’t sure she was going to trust anyone she didn’t know again.

So much had changed in the last day that it left her head spinning. She even knew Jeremiah’s real name, something she’d been sure he’d never tell her. Malachi Abram was a
very Biblical sounding name. She much preferred Jeremiah Silverman, though. Maybe that was just because it was the name she was familiar with.

She felt like she was being watched, but couldn’t detect anyone following them or staring for any length of time. Maybe she was just being paranoid. She hoped that Solomon was worthy of Jeremiah’s trust, and that he wasn’t leading them into a trap.

Both men walked with long, purposeful strides and she practically had to jog to keep up with them. Until she had the lay of the land down better she didn’t intend to let Jeremiah out of her sight for even a second.

They quickly collected Jeremiah and Cindy’s luggage. Jeremiah started to head for the customs station, but Solomon touched his arm. “We have made alternate arrangements. We do not want it known that you are in the country if it can be helped.”

Jeremiah glanced at Cindy.

“I assume she is in need of a Visa to enter?” Solomon asked.

Jeremiah nodded. Aaron had already provided Jeremiah with one, ostensibly courtesy of his former employers. That, too, was suspect now.

“We shall take care of that, too. Come.”

They headed for a door in the far wall that had no markings on it but was still being watched over by two guards. Solomon flashed something to them and a moment later he, Jeremiah, and Cindy were through the door and heading down a staircase. Jeremiah noticed that the stairwell was filled with security cameras which all appeared to be turned off.

“You’re taking a lot of precautions,” he noted.

“There is a reason for it,” Solomon said.

At the bottom they exited through another door that was heavily guarded. Steps away was a limousine with its windows blackened for privacy. The driver got out and opened the door for them. The three of them piled in and the driver returned to the front. Moments later they were in motion.

Solomon put up the privacy screen between them and the driver then he leaned back in his seat with a sigh. “I am sorry, my friend, that we meet again under such circumstances.”

“Me, too. Care to tell me why?”

Solomon’s eyes drifted to Cindy who had not said a word beyond the greeting she had given him. Her eyes were still wide with fear, but she was putting on a brave face. He needed to be able to keep her as close as possible no matter what was happening.

“Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of my wife,” Jeremiah said, hoping that Cindy wouldn’t flinch.

She didn’t. Apparently they’d played that card often enough in hospitals and other sticky situations that she wasn’t surprised.

Solomon, on the other hand, was.

“I had no idea you had gotten married,” he said, doubt in his voice.

“We eloped a few days ago. We didn’t want to deal with Cindy’s family. We were planning on telling our friends at their party yesterday, but a more pressing matter
came up,” Jeremiah said, reaching out and taking Cindy’s hand.

“You seem to be lacking wedding bands,” Solomon observed.

“They’re at the jeweler being resized. They didn’t have the ones we liked available in our sizes on the way to the wedding. We were supposed to pick them up Tuesday,” Cindy said.

Jeremiah was impressed with her quick thinking.

“Mazel tov. Hopefully when this is over I will be able to get you a wedding present.”

“Going home would be enough of a present,” Jeremiah said.

“No doubt. Your honeymoon has been inconveniently interrupted. I understand.”

“Yes, and we’d like to know why. What was so important that you need my help? I’ve been out of things for a few years.”

“Yes, but skills like yours are always in demand.”

Jeremiah stiffened. He should have told Cindy everything about his time in the Mossad. Most pointedly, exactly what his job had been that required the skills Solomon was no doubt referring to.

“I was retired for a reason,” Jeremiah reminded the other man.

“Yes, that was an unfortunate situation,” Solomon said.

There were other adjectives Jeremiah would have chosen, but now was not the time to debate that.

“Actually, what we need most from you right now are your contacts.”

“My contacts?” Jeremiah asked, puzzled. “Surely you know who most of them are.”

“Yes, but things are very volatile right now. Very dangerous. Some people won’t talk to us that we desperately need to share information with. You had a reputation for being trustworthy. You had contacts even among Arab intelligence operatives.”

“They just found me amusing because I could quote the Koran better than most of them, particularly the verses where it stresses that Jews and Christians are not infidels but should be treated as weaker brothers.”

“Whatever the reason, you have the ability to talk to some people that no one else can at this point and it is vital that we find a way to work together in the coming days.”

“I know that the C.I.A. has increased its presence in the area. I also know that you’re recalling agents other than me. All of this points to something really big about to happen.”